Does shale fracking continue if regulatory authorities clamp down on water volume usage? Back to Blog
Does shale fracking continue if regulatory authorities clamp down on water volume usage? It can, but the cost of exceeding allowed volumes may make some energy plays less economical. The State of Texas is expected to allocate $2 billion in this legislative session for the funding and study of additional water resources and reservoir construction. With the two year drought in the State still prevalent, lawmakers and the public are painfully aware that we have too little available fresh water to satisfy the existing, much less the anticipated growth in population and resulting need for municipal water systems, commercial feedstock and energy development.
There are alternatives available in the form of desalination and treatment facilities, but the current cost of using this technology is exorbitant. Devon and other energy producers have utilized desalination facilities in the Barnett Shale and elsewhere, but not on a scale which will convince other producers to forgo their current consumption of literally millions of gallons of fresh underground and surface waters in Texas. It is clear however that industry and the State have to coordinate the study of minimizing the loss of our limited water to contamination and evaporation. The current pace of oil & gas resource development depends on it.